1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to container systems for commercial and military packaging which protect electronic equipment against damage caused by shipping and other rough handling, and more particularly to a ruggedized container system for housing and environmental isolation of sensitive electronic equipment utilizing lightweight superior strength composite structural materials and unique component designs for superior weight reduction, functionality, and longevity.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic equipment of the type typically used in commercial or military environments has not been designed to withstand extreme military transport, high impact or shock environment. Therefore, a variety of reinforced and ruggedized container systems have been developed to protectively house and transport electronic equipment. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,866 invented by Porter bearing these design goals and attributes.
A company called ECS Case located in Grants Pass, Oreg., manufactures and distributes ECS composite rack mount cases which include removable shock mounted aluminum racks, scoveres and quick release fasteners, composite center bodies and composite removable covers. Although being commercially viable, ECS rack mount cases are lacking structural and component sophistication.
Hardigg Industries of South Deerfield, Mass. also manufactures and distributes a line of rotomolded plastic rack mount containers designed to protect house and transport sensitive electronic equipment mounted therein. While these HARDIGG containers meet all of the environmental requirements and federal test method standards, nonetheless the overall size, weight and bulkiness, lack of sophistication of manufacturing techniques, and various other component and accessory functionality leave much to be desired from this product line.
The commercial off-the-shelf transportation cases are typically not intended for use in the harsh military environment. The requirements of military transit cases are lightweight, crush proof, stackable, air and water tight, and securely transportable for harsh environments particularly environments characterized by high vibration/shock levels, rough shipping and handling and temperature extreme. The weight of the case used in military environment may be critical, for example, in a battlefield where the electronics package should be sufficiently light to be transported and placed in a selected position by at most two persons. In addition, it is very important to build into these containers a shock mitigation system which is capable of protecting sensitive electronic equipment from possible damages during harsh transport.
The present invention addresses all of the needs currently unmet by the so-called lightweight, superior strength ruggedized enclosures for protecting housings and transporting sensitive electronic equipment and modules subjected to a harsh environment of severe vibration and physical impact, corrosive atmosphere and temperature extremes. Several embodiments of both overall case structure and component features, along with manufacturing methodology are disclosed. The net effect of this disclosure is to provide an extremely light, highly sophisticated and superior strength ruggedized enclosure better suited for protecting, housing, and transporting environmentally sensitive electronic equipment particularly use in military settings.